Of the numerous branch lines, beginning in the west, may be mentioned two that leave Placetas del Sur, one extending north to Placetas and through connections to the harbor of Caibarien; the other, built in a southerly direction, to the city of Trinidad on the south coast. From Zaza del Medio, in the Province of Santa Clara, a branch extends almost due south to Sancti Spiritus, and thence, through connections with the Sancti Spiritus Railroad to Zaza on the shore of the Caribbean. At Ciego de Avila, the Cuba Company’s road is crossed by what is known as the Jucaro & Moron Road, built many years ago as a military line through the center of the trocha, or barrier, intended to prevent insurrectionary troops passing from Camaguey into the western part of the Island. This short stretch of railway connects San Fernando on the north coast with Jucaro on the Caribbean. At Camaguey, the old Camaguey and Nuevitas Road during many years had enjoyed a monopoly in the transportation of products to the coast. The Cuba Company absorbed and incorporated the road, securing thus a valuable adjunct to its system. The Bay of Nuevitas was not of sufficient depth to permit large vessels loading at the old wharves, so the Cuba Company extended the road five kilometers to Punta de Pastelillo, where sugar warehouses and wharves have been built, so that sugar from all the mills of central Camaguey can be delivered aboard ship, doing away with the old system of lightering out to deep water. From Marti, 60 kilometers east of Camaguey on the main line, a southeastern extension was built across country to the City of Bayamo, in the southwestern center of the Province of Oriente, 127 kilometers distant. Another branch built from Manzanillo on the west coast of Bayamo, 56 kilometers in length, opened up a section of country previously inaccessible. From Bayamo a road parallel to the main line has been built east to San Luis, 98 kilometers, furnishing an exit for one of the richest sections of the Cauto Valley, and also for the rich mineral zones that lie on the southern slope of the Sierra Maestra Mountains. This line from Marti to San Luis passes through one continuous stretch of sugar cane fields, extending as far as the eye can reach, north and south, throughout its entire length. From Cacocum a short line of 18 kilometers extends north to Holguin. Up to the completion of this connecting link, the city of Holguin, in north central Oriente, had been connected with the outside world only through the medium of a short road terminating at Gibara on the Atlantic coast, where coasting steamers stopped weekly.